Metal prices are at
multi-year lows. Gold hasn't been this cheap in 5 years.
Copper, nickel and aluminum all hit or got close to 6-year
lows.

The reason for this is simple, China uses massive amounts of
these materials. As you can see in this chart from UBS, China
currently accounts for nearly half of the world's demand for
copper, nickel and aluminum. The market for iron ore, the price
of which has gotten
destroyed this year, is dominated by China with nearly
70% of seaborne and close to 60% of global demand coming from the
country. Steel, of which China accounts for between 40-50%
of the world's demand. has seen
production tumble.

UBS

China has needed massive amount of raw commodities to build out
the infrastructure in its booming economy. So, as that boom fades
a bit, so too does the massive demand for these goods.

"Over the last decade China has
become an increasingly significant consumer of many
internationally traded commodities," the analysts wrote. "Lower
Chinese demand has already impacted global commodity prices
adversely. An expectedly sharp fall in Chinese demand could send
those commodity prices lower still."